Highlighting Guru Nanak's quest for equality, tolerance and compassion in his creation of a synthesis of Hinduism and Islam, this fascinating biography tells the story of a unique spiritual leader who showed a gentle, peaceful path to realizing God.

Part fiction, history, and mythology, this unconventional retelling of the life of divine spiritual master Guru Nanak, founder of the Sikh religion and revered by Muslims and Hindus alike, provides an intimate look at the enlightened Guru while bringing his ancient wisdom to a modern audience. From the best-selling author of Ganesha Goes to Lunch and Rumi’s Tales from the Silk Road comes an original novel about the life and travels of Guru Nanak, a musician, enlightened thinker, and one of the most beloved figures in Eastern spirituality. In this fascinating book, Kamla K. Kapur weaves together facts, legends, folktales, myths, and over forty of Guru Nanak’s poems—preserved in the Sikh holy book, the Granth Sahib—to form this captivating depiction of the leader’s life. From being seduced by deadly women to almost getting eaten by cannibals, the exciting account presented in The Singing Guruincludes moral tales without being proselytizing. Factual details are intermingled with fantasy to produce a symbolic portrait in which humor and imagination combine to convey a profound and entertaining spiritual narrative.

This book studies the life and the teachings of Guru Nanak, as reflected in his compositions. Special stress has been laid on discussing the morning prayer, Japji, the establishment of the institutions of sangat and langar and messages for improving the status of women. The book is profusely illustrated with reproductions of rare eighteenth century miniature paintings and line drawings, including a series from a Janamsakhi that has never been published before.It also has maps depicting the travels of Guru Nanak.

In this highly accessible and comprehensive biography, Nikky-Guninder Kaur Singh deftly mines the available sources to construct a vivid and complex account of Guru Nanak's life and legacy, his personality and background, the pluralistic world he lived in, his teachings and philosophy, and even the manner in which he has been understood by believers and scholars over time. What emerges is a majestic and magisterial portrait of a great enlightener who not only founded one of the world's major religions but whose singular message of unity and hope has endured centuries after he first walked the earth. The First Sikh unites rigorous scholarship with a deep love for the subject, offering fascinating insights into Guru Nanak's life and times even as it explores key facets of Sikhism. Moreover, it shows us how Guru Nanak continues to remain relevant in a twenty-first-century reality.

The Book of the Ten Masters is the record of the teachers of the Sikhs. The history of human civilization took a new turn when the Sikh Gurus appeared on the scene of Medieval India. The Sikh movement served as a light-house for the people groping in the dark. They were then changed men and elevated to the stage of the ideal man i.e. Gurmukh.